Spring bed-bottom



WM. H. MERIWETHER, OF` NEW' BRAUNFE'LS, TEXAS.

SPRING- BED-BOTTOM.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,484, dated August 8, 1854-..

To all whom, t may concern Be it known that I, VViLLIAM HUNTER` MERIWETHER, of New Braunfels, in the County of Comal and State of Texas, have invented an Improvement inthe Construction of SpringBottoms of Bedsteads, &c., andthatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes it from all other things before known and of the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l 1s a top view of the spring' bottom, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of the bed-` stead exhibiting a `section of the head and foot blocks and wire.

`My mode of constructing the spring bottom is as follows: I take steel, iron or other l v wire of a size suited to the size of the bedstead, sofa, chair or seat to be used and by means of peculiar machinery, for which I in-` tend to apply for separate Letters Patent, I

crimp the wire so as to present the zig zaag appearance shown at a a Fig. l. The wlre thus crimped is found to have considerable spring, whether it be stretchedfrom one end, the other being fixed, or by lateral pressure upon it when the two ends are fixed. In this state it is` stretched back and forth between the head and foot blocks b, c, by passing through suitable apertures or mortises in the same as seen at cl d in the drawings, and fastened at both ends in any convenient manner. The foot and head blocks are then secured to the bedsteadframe by the adjusting screwse, f, g, lz, and drawn up to any degree of tension desired. The spring bottom thus completed is very simple, cheap, elastic, easily adjusted and free -from insects. The zig zag wire is found to spring sufficiently to make a very easy and comfortable support for a mattress or cushion, and is applicable to seats and beds of every description, and as it can be manufactured and applied with somuch ease it must make a valuable substitut-e for spiral and other springs in such cases; after use for some time the zig zag wire will stretch a little, when it may be brought up by the set screws to its proper tension.

ll/That I claim as my invention and improvement in bedsteads etc., is the spring bottom-construction of zig-zag wire arranged and constructed in they manner and for the purposes set'forth.

. WILLIAM HUNTER MERIWETHER. A Witnesses:

T. CAMPBELL, M. C. GRITZNER. 

